Oh no! Where's the JavaScript?Your Web browser does not have JavaScript enabled or does not support JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript on your Web browser to properly view this Web site, or upgrade to a Web browser that does support JavaScript; Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome or a version of Internet Explorer newer then version 6.

TRACK LISTING: 01 New Age Music * 02 My Life Is On The Line * 03 (I Just Wanna) Live It My Way * 04 I Don't Wanna Be Awake * 05 I Can Love You * 06 Untitled * 07 Feelin' In Love * 08 Play It Like You See It * 09 Electric Detective

BackgroundBy early-mid 1981, Pat Travers was ready for the next phase of his recording career. 'Radio Active' was the result, with PTB now reduced to a trio again, after Pat Thrall and Tommy Aldridge had decided to move onto their next career moves. Former Blackjack drummer Sandy Gennaro came into the band set-up. Novo Combo drummer Michael Shrieve also joined in on the sessions in a percussionist role. I had read somewhere that things had become testy between the two Pat's, with their live performances becoming more segregated on stage during the 1980 'Crash And Burn' tour, so with Thrall ending his tenure here, he moved onto greener pastures to the highly acclaimed Hughes/Thrall project. Aldridge moved onto Ozzy Osbourne.

The SongsSo what of the 'Radio Active' material? Over the years, this set didn't quite do it for me, unlike the previous albums. It was a very heavily keyboard flavoured LP. Now normally I don't complain about that aspect of a melodic rock album, but Travers is a guitarist first and foremost, and much of the six-string dynamic with having two guitarists had been lost. Sure,'Crash And Burn' had some keyboard driven moments too, but the overall weighting was still in favour of guitars. You can still hear Thrall's contributions on tracks such as 'New Age Music and 'Electric Detective', but the production mix from Dennis Mackay and Travers is very wet, the swirling nature of the guitars most prominent throughout. Still, songs like 'I Can Love You' are enjoyable, plus one or two others, even the keyboard instrumental 'Untitled' has its moments.

In SummaryAfter the success of 'Crash And Burn', the results for 'Radio Active' were very disappointing. However, Polydor hung in with Traers all the way through to 1984's 'Hot Shot' LP, even though they technically dropped him after this record, but an ensuing legal claim which Travers won, meant that he had two more LP's to deliver. [word count 318]

All written content on this website is copyrighted.Copying of material without permission is not permitted.